“What about the guys who don’t come from any of our packs?” Blaise asked. He gestured to one of the groups of POWs. “I recognize one of the guys over there. He got kicked out of the Lawrence River pack two years ago. It’s far away, and that alpha obviously isn’t here.”
“I’ll make whatever calls I need to,” I said. “If you’ll do the same? Pull whatever strings you need to. I’m not a savage. If these men want a second chance, they’ll have it, but you make sure they know it’s their verylastchance.”
“On it,” Hakeem said.
“Levi?” June said, tugging at my arm.
“Yeah?”
“We need to talk,” she said. “There’s something?—”
“Levi!Levi, we need help over here. Got a man hurt real bad. He’s not healing right. Help.”
“Shit.” I gave June an apologetic look.
“It’s fine.” She smiled. “You go. I’ll help the other injured.”
Kissing her quickly on the cheek, I took off at a sprint. Over the next two hours, we did the best we could with triage and medical help. There were quite a few of our number who didn’t make it, though, to my relief, it seemed more of the Red Maw came to their end than our people did.
Near dusk, Patrick, Devon, Blaise, Hakeem, and Rainier led us deeper into the forest and up a steep incline. We came out at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the Idle River, which ran through Idlewild. Nearly a dozen men and Eugenia were standing there.
“These are the ones who say they’d rather not reintegrate,” Devon said, his voice heavy with regret. “We, uh, figured a quick jump was best. Wereallytried to talk them out of it but…” he trailed off.
I patted him on the shoulder. “You guys did what you could.”
Stepping out to address those standing on the edge, I raised my voice, speaking to all of them, but keeping my eyes on Eugenia.
“You all have a real chance to rejoin your packs. All you have to do is honor this with a new outlook. This doesn’t have to be the end for you. Please?—”
“Fuck you, Demon Wolf!” a man at the far end yelled. “Desdemona was my life. Without her, there’s nothing.”
He kicked backward, sailing over the cliff and crashing into the river two hundred feet below. June gasped—hell, I gasped too. The sudden death left me shaken and confused. It was like Desdemona had created a death cult. It was both terrifying and incredibly sad. More men leapt, setting off a chain reaction of others jumping to their doom, until only Eugenia was left. Unwilling to see another person die if they didn’t have to, I extended my hand toward her.
“Please don’t,” I said.
“Don’t jump,” June murmured, also extending her hand. We weren’t angry or bitter enough to see another suicide.
Eugenia wiped at her eyes with her bound hands. “I waited my whole life to find my fated mate.” She sniffled. “I finally found him, and I lost him. There’s nothing left for me here.”
“That’s not true, Eugenia,” I said, hands out, pleading. “This doesn’t have to be your final choice.”
“Yes, it does,” she said, and there was anger in her voice now. “You two have each other. I have no one. Maybe…maybe Anders and I will meet again. We can reincarnate.” Her face softened,her eyes going distant. “Yes, that sounds nice. I need to go find him.”
I screamed for her to stop, but I was too late. She’d already jumped. She didn’t shout or cry out in fear. It was simple. One minute she was there, the next she was gone.
“Jesus, fuck,” I hissed, pounding my fist against my thigh. “It didn’t have to be this way.”
June put a reassuring hand on my arm. “We did everything we could.”
For a few seconds, I debated walking to the edge to look down on the bodies floating below, but I didn’t. Turning away, I lead our group away, beginning the trip back to Idlewild.
94
JUNIPER
Returning to Idlewild was a strange experience. So much had happened in such a short time that Itrulyhad become a totally different person. It wasn’t simply that I could now sense the thinly veiled connection to Naphele, but that my entire world really had changed. I had killed Anders. Eugenia was dead, a victim of her own mistakes, misery, and mourning. A few days prior, I’d been arguing with Levi to allow them to stay in town, and now, they were both gone. I should have been relieved, but all I felt was sadness and regret. If things had gone differently, could they have changed? Maybe if any of the three of us had made different decisions, it could have turned out less awful. But there was no use dwelling on those thoughts now.
I was free, and so was Idlewild. Levi too. Without Anders, the Red Maw, and Eugenia’s influence, there was a new future on the horizon. As tragically as it had all ended, there was still a silver lining. A chance at a new life, not only for us, but for the town and Hidden Grove. The thought warmed my soul.
